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Continuity fields enhance visual perception through positive serial dependence

Nature Reviews Psychology volume 3, pages 352–366 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Positive serial dependencies are phenomena in which actions, perception, decisions, and memory of features or objects are systematically biased towards the recent past. Across several decades, serial dependencies have been variously referred to as priming, sequential dependencies, sequential effects or serial effects. Despite a great deal of research, the functional purpose of positive serial dependencies remains unknown. In this Perspective, we propose that their goal is to promote the stability, accuracy and efficiency of perceptual representations. By continuously inducing serial dependencies, cognition compensates for variability in sensory input and thus stabilizes what would otherwise be a noisy, jittery and discontinuous experience of the world. We theorize that this goal is served by continuity fields: spatiotemporal integration mechanisms that continuously bias perception and cognition towards previously encountered information, thereby smoothing representations to promote the stability, accuracy and efficiency of experience.

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Fig. 1: Positive serial dependencies across visual stimuli.
Fig. 2: Behavioural paradigms and data analysis in positive serial dependencies.
Fig. 3: Manifestations of positive serial dependencies.
Fig. 4: Tuning properties of positive serial dependencies.
Fig. 5: Continuity field operators.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a National Institutes of Health grant (R01 CA236793 to D.W.).

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  1. School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, King’s College, Aberdeen, UK

    Mauro Manassi

  2. Department of Psychology University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    David Whitney

  3. Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    David Whitney

  4. Vision Science Group, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    David Whitney

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Manassi, M., Whitney, D. Continuity fields enhance visual perception through positive serial dependence. Nat Rev Psychol 3, 352–366 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-024-00297-x

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